Training on Devil Island

"Move it! Get down there, all of you!"

On an island brimming with a primal aura, Blackbeard's ship was docked by the shore. Everyone stood along the coast, and nearly all of them had a thick rope tied around their waists.

"Captain, we're Devil Fruit users! Why are we all going into the sea? Isn't that just suicide?" Shit swallowed nervously as he looked at the turbulent ocean.

"Hmph! Although we're Devil Fruit users, people rejected by the sea, training in the ocean helps improve our resistance to Seastone! You've all tried it before. Even when you're shackled with Seastone cuffs and feel weak all over, you're not completely unable to move! What you need to do now is get used to that feeling of weakness as much as possible, so you can handle all kinds of emergencies in the future!" Teach explained from the shore.

The Blackbeard Pirates now had nine members, five of whom were Devil Fruit users. If they really encountered a tsunami, they might not even be able to save everyone!

"But, Captain..." "What the hell are you dawdling for? Get down there!" "Be gentle, Captain~" "Splash! Gulp gulp gulp..."

Teach kicked the hesitant Shit into the sea, then turned a dark look on the remaining three.

"Wihahahaha..." "Wih your head! Get down there already!" "Ah! Captain, don't you love me anymore~" "Splash! Gulp gulp gulp..."

"Cough, cough, Captain, I'm gravely ill..." "It's fine. If you can't take it, have Fuckyou pull you up and give you artificial respiration! Off you go!" "Wait, Captain, my horse..." "Splash! Gulp gulp gulp..."

"Captain, you don't need to do it. I'll jump myself!" "Just what I'd expect from you, Laffitte! You really save your captain some worry!" "Of course, ah! Captain, why did you kick me..." "Sorry, my foot slipped..." "Splash! Gulp gulp gulp..."

Teach turned to look at the remaining four on shore. Hmm, and one dying old horse!

"You four aren't allowed to slack off either. Follow the training plan I made for you and train properly! Van Augur, as the sniper, keep a close watch on the rest of us. If you see anyone can't hold on, pull him up! Remember, the lives of the five of us are in your hands!"

"Got it, Captain, but could you stop calling me Old Van..." "Okay, Old Van. From now on, I, Blackbeard, will absolutely never call Old Van Old Van! Old Van, don't you worry!"

Watching Van Augur's face darken, Teach suddenly had an ominous feeling. But since he had already kicked his crew into the water, as captain, he naturally could not be outdone!

"Let's do it, brothers!"

Teach let out a strange cry, then leaped fiercely into the sea!

"Gulp gulp gulp!"

Well, this proved that seawater was salty as hell!

"Let's do it? Could there be some strange creature like that on this island too?" Rando, standing nearby, fell deep into thought...

The moment Teach's body touched the seawater, an intense feeling of weakness flooded through him. In the water, even moving an arm took hundreds of times more effort than usual! Teach could clearly feel his stamina draining away at a terrifying rate!

"So this is the so-called side effect! It really is killing me!" Teach turned to look at Burgess and the others not far away. He could still barely thrash around underwater, but Burgess and Laffitte were clearly struggling. The two of them had eaten their Devil Fruits much later than Doc Q and Shit, while Doc Q always looked half-dead in normal times. Yet now, his complexion was more ruddy than ever!

As time passed, Laffitte was nearly unable to hold on. His physique was the weakest among them all, and he had eaten his Devil Fruit late as well. By now, his eyes were nearly rolling back.

Finally.

"Urgh!" Laffitte's mouth opened involuntarily, and countless bubbles slowly floated to the surface. The next second, the rope around his waist suddenly went taut, and he shot out of the sea like an arrow!

"Cough, cough, cough! Thanks, Old Van!" Laffitte shot Van Augur a grateful look.

"Let me put it this way: is there any chance my name is Van Augur?" Van Augur said through gritted teeth, silently cursing, Fuckyou, one day, I'm going to beat the hell out of you!

The others remaining in the sea soon could not hold on any longer. As their oxygen ran out, they were pulled up one after another. Out of a captain's pride, Teach gritted his teeth and held out until the end, but...

"Gurgle gurgle, damn it! That bastard Old Van actually dared to use this for personal revenge! I'm going to... gurgle gurgle."

Just before Teach felt like his lungs were about to explode, the rope around his waist finally moved!

"Pant, pant, pant! Old Van, you did very well!" A dangerous glint flashed through Teach's eyes. Van Augur, standing nearby, clenched up. "Captain, listen to my explanation..."

"Explanation? You don't need an explanation! Out of your captain's concern for you, I've decided to give you extra training! Rando, bring me twenty kilograms of gold!" Teach said, tilting his head toward Rando. Though Rando was puzzled, he still did as told.

A moment later, several chunks of gold were placed before Teach.

"Captain, what are you going to do?" Fuckyou wandered over, eager to watch the show.

"What am I going to do? You'll find out soon enough!" Teach raised his right fist, which became enveloped in white shockwaves. The next second...

"Crack!"

A crisp cracking sound rang out as Teach slammed his fist onto the gold before him!

"Bang!"

After a dull thud, the twenty kilograms of gold became gold dust. Teach then reached out with his right hand and stirred it into the beach sand a few times, mixing the gold dust with the sand!

"Old Van, as a sniper, your captain wants to train your eyesight!" Teach's spring-breeze smile made cold sweat pour down Van Augur's back.

"Before nightfall, pick out every grain of gold dust for me! And count exactly how many grains there are! Remember, this is training for you!"

At that moment, Teach seemed to have entered Cerberus's beastman form. In Van Augur's eyes, his captain looked no different from a demon...

"Y-yes, Captain!"

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and rest! We're going back into the sea in five minutes! Old Van, if your eyes make another mistake this time, your captain will add some more gold! Don't worry, I'm willing to spend however much it takes on you!"

"Shiryu, don't stand around either! In a while, go catch a Sea King around a hundred meters long, then slice its body into one-millimeter-thick slices for me! We're having sashimi tonight!"

"Fuckyou, what are you staring at? See that mountain over there? One mountain a day. Train your Armament Haki properly and smash it into stone powder for me!"

Ah! What a harmonious and loving pirate crew! But such wonderful times were always brief. Amid Laffitte and the others' reluctant expressions, the seven-day devilish special training came to an end...